This invention relates to cabinet structures and more particularly to a unique dental room divider which permits the use of the same dental equipment from opposite sides of the divider at a pair of spaced areas.
In the practice of dentistry it is fairly common and almost a necessity for a dentist to employ separate rooms in his daily practice. Each room is preferably provided with a dental chair and all the necessary equipment for the treatment of a patient. By employing at least two such rooms, the dentist is able to reduce the waiting period for each patient and is also able to make more efficient use of his limited time. Therefore, the efficiency of the practice, as well as the efficiency of treatment of the patients, is substantially increased by this form of practice.
Frequently, however, due to the high cost of modern dental equipment, a dentist is unable to fully outfit each of the required rooms. For example, each room would preferably include an X-ray unit, the various hand tools required in the treatment of patients, a supply of dental materials, an electrosurgery unit, an ultrasonic cleaning unit and a nitrous oxide unit. The above list of equipment, although not exhaustive, provides a representative sampling of the equipment normally required in the practice of dentistry. As previously mentioned, the capital expenditure involved in fully outfitting two, separate rooms is frequently not practical and further results in a needless duplication in equipment. This is especially true when only a single dentist is using both of the rooms. In such a system the expensive equipment employed is not efficiently used.
In an attempt to alleviate the problems heretofore experienced, at least one structure has been proposed. This structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,650 entitled DENTAL INSTRUMENT CABINET and issued to Ryan on Aug. 29, 1967. This patent discloses a dental instrument cabinet pivotally mounted between opposite sides of a hollow wall. A fairly complex drive and pulley system is employed to automatically pivot the cabinet so that access may be had to the instruments from opposite sides of the wall which separates two dental operating positions. The pivotally mounted dental instrument cabinet includes a front panel structure which has secured thereto suitable dental equipment connected by conduits to the required drive motors, air and water pumps, electrical outlets or power utility sources.
Although permitting use of the same dental hand tools from two, separated dental operating positions, the structure disclosed by Ryan is fairly complex in nature, requires extensive modification of an intermediate wall structure and only eliminates the duplication of some of the various hand tools employed by a dentist.
A need, therefore, exists for a structure which permits use of and access to a wide variety of expensive dental equipment from two, spaced dental operating positions; which permits the division of an existing room into two working areas; and essentially eliminates other problems heretofore experienced in the customary practice.